Publication Series, The Arts

Constructing the Study of Islamic Art

Dennis Briskin Collection

The photographs in this collection were taken by Dennis Briskin,
who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in central Iran between 1967 and 1969.
Briskin's photographs depict both the built environment of cities such as Arak,
Hamadan, Kashan, Qum, Isfahan, and Tehran, as well as scenes of daily life
within them. Many of the images document ways of life that relied on
pre-industrial technologies that are increasingly forgotten today. The
collection does not represent a systematic attempt to survey the architecture
of a region, but rather a documentation of places and their inhabitants that
caught the photographer's attention.

After serving in the Peace Corps, Dennis Briskin obtained a M.A.
in Journalism from the University of Missouri and settled in Northern
California. Other examples of his photographs can be seen on his website, The Face of Iran, and in his unpublished show, Iran Before... (available upon request).